I'm Broken When I'm Lonesome
by ZombifiedWulf
Summary: IBWIL is being rewritten. Stay tuned!
1. One

**SUMMARY:** _Naruto Uzumaki lives a secret life of pain and torture. He dreams of becoming a bird, flying away, freeing himself from his captors; for this reason, birds are his favorite animal. Sakura is his only friend; she's the one person whom Naruto truly feels understands him. And then he meets Sasuke Uchiha, who reminds him of a raven. Sasuke's life has not been particularly easy, either, but unlike Naruto, he has no friends, and in fact rejoices in his loneliness. His favorite animal is a fox; alone and remarkably intelligent in the ways that count the most, they have always inspired him. Not only is his newly acquired dog fox-like, but Sasuke finds that Naruto reminds me of a fox even more - minus the brilliance._

**WARNING:** _This story contains shounen-ai. I will not describe any sexual acts, but it will be very obvious that they are happening. There is also molestation, rape, and child abuse. Again, I will not go into detail, but it will be clear what's going on. This warning will last through the entire story._

**DISCLAIMER: **_NARUTO is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. He also owns all characters in this story unless otherwise stated. This plot was thought up by me. The title of this story comes from Broken by Seether featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence. The little quotes beginning each chapter belong to their respective owners._

**AUTHOR'S** **NOTES: **_Well, hopefully this story doesn't disappoint. I had this sudden very strong desire to make it, and each scene keeps coming to me in dreams. I have it planned out, and I know what's going in the story, but I haven't quite figured out how I want it to end just yet. Anyway, please leave me awesome reviews. Thank you._

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><p><strong>Chapter One;<strong>

_"I object to violence, because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."  
>- Mahatma<em> _Ghandi_

The room was almost unnaturally clean, especially for a seventeen year old male in his junior year of high school. The bed was perfectly made; not even a single wrinkle dared to tarnish the beautiful stillness of the dark blue blankets. The blinds had been opened, causing the morning sunlight to filter through, bathing the room in the warm, inviting glow. Though the room seemed amazing at first glance, one could quickly see just how little there truly was. There was a single bed – no bed frame, no headboard; only a mattress – one small closet, and what could only be described as a nightstand with two deep drawers. Just above the nightstand-like chest was a tall full body mirror, resting against the top of the stand. The reflection was a slender-yet-muscular blonde; his hair gelled into natural-looking spikes. He leaned close to the mirror, hypnotic blue eyes gazing back. The clear definition of a bruise glared around one of his eyes, causing the tanned male to wrinkle his nose.

"Naruto!" The shrill, feminine voice pierced his ears and pulled him from his previous distraction. "If you aren't here in five minutes, you won't get breakfast," the same feminine voice was softer this time, as though she was trying to force Naruto to strain. Not that he needed anymore reason than that to hurriedly put on the black blazer that his school forced the students to wear.

Beneath the blazer, he wore a button-up, collared white dress shirt, with a pair of sheer black dress pants. Just so the school didn't seem too boring, they allowed students to wear a pair of shiny grey dress shoes. In Naruto's opinion, it was absolutely ridiculous to force a group of high school students to dress as though they were going to some fancy-pants, rich-kid meeting or something. Once again becoming distracted – this time with those shiny shoes – Naruto missed the knock on the wall in the hallway, just outside his bedroom. Had he heard it, it would have taken him merely half a second for his behind to be downstairs.

"Did you hear your mother?" A deep voice caused Naruto's skin to crawl. Aside from this, he did not physically react to the sudden fear that began eating away at him. Licking his lips, his crystalline eyes slowly raised, and he straightened himself.

"Y-yes. Sir. I was finishing-" his words were quiet, soft, attempting to appease the man before him; the act was similar to that of a low-ranking wolf cowering before the higher alpha to show respect for him – although Naruto's "respect" was more accurately defined as fear.

"I don't care!" Naruto flinched at the resounding boom, and then mentally chastised himself as he watched the smirk grow on the man's face. "Your mother called you. Get your ass down these stairs this instant," he growled. As Naruto began passing, however, a hand as tanned as his own shot out and gripped his face, and again Naruto flinched. The man tilted the younger blonde's face up, gazing at the bruise. The sickening gleam in the man's equally blue eyes made Naruto want to vomit. "You got into a fight."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes, sir."

It was a demand.

"Good," the older man's voice sounded pleased as he released Naruto's face. Without bothering to look back at the man he'd taken so much of his own looks from, Naruto hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He couldn't reach the bottom fast enough, in his opinion. With the man who was biologically known as his father behind him, he felt almost like a rabbit with a wolf chasing it. Even though immediate danger had passed and he was heading to his safe little hole – his mother – the wolf was closing in, causing his heart to beat quickly, like a drum in his ear.

When he was finally in the kitchen, the woman turned to give him a smile. "Happy you could make it in time, Kit," she cooed, and though the nickname was quite embarrassing, Naruto felt relief wash over him.

"Me too!" He cheered, returning his mother's smile, before moving to sit at the table. The red haired woman placed an American style breakfast before him; eggs, bacon, and toast. It was strange, considering his parents had originated in Japan. Though Naruto had been born and raised in the small town of Bishop Hills, Texas, his mother enjoyed cooking Japanese meals more than American meals. Naruto wasn't picky; he'd eat whatever his mother decided to cook.

"Minato, I need you to take Kit to school today."

And just like that, his world went dark again. The relief washed away, replaced with dread. His stomach began doing strange somersaults, knotting and tightening itself, while the rest of his body tensed. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore.

"Naruto, if you aren't going to eat, then let's go," the man – whose voice just minutes before had been angry and threatening – spoke softly. This was why his mother was his safe place, his little hole of safety. Minato never raised his voice when around her. Naruto honestly couldn't understand why he was the only one Minato ever showed this sort of distaste toward. But he certainly wasn't going to ask.

Forcing himself to take a large gulp of milk, the blonde-haired boy nodded and stood up. "I'm ready," he looked up, forcing a smile on his face.

Minato, satisfied, nodded and turned to his wife. "Kushina, I'll be at the office late tonight. Don't worry about dinner," he smiled at her and leaned in to give her a kiss that Naruto turned away from. Watching Minato treat his mother so delicately pissed him off. Not that he blamed his mother for any of it – God no! Kushina was innocent, completely oblivious to the mistreatment of her son. Minato went through great lengths to be sure of that.

While the couple said their goodbyes, Naruto stepped out of the kitchen and into the front hall way, where his bright orange and dark blue back pack rested against the wall near the door. He picked it up, taking his time to bring the straps over his shoulders. Once he had the back pack on, the blonde-haired boy leaned against the wall, sighing softly and shutting his eyes.

A hand clapping against his chest caused his brilliant blue eyes to flash open, and all of his muscles tensed, preparing to either try and run – not that he ran anymore – or take the beating that his body had come to know and recognize. Anytime the blue-eyed male was touched, he expected to get hit in some way. "Are you ready, Naruto?" the deep voice questioned, squeezing his shoulder gently, completely ignoring the fear that he struck into his own son.

Naruto glanced up at the smiling face; it was a face that any others would think was pleasant and kind, though Naruto knew differently. He could see the sick, twisted happiness that he got from his own flesh and blood's reaction. He was not ignoring Naruto's fear; he was drinking it up like some type of treasured wine. Naruto wanted to gag, but settled for giving his father a brilliantly fake smile "Of course, dad," his words were too sweet, too soft; but no one could notice.

Without responding, Minato continued outside, dropping his hand from Naruto's shoulder. The younger blonde sent a smile to his mother – a real one – and he trotted outside to face his certain doom. Sure enough, without Kushina there to soothe the beast lurking within the older man, he glared down at his son. "Hurry up, damn it! I don't have time for your shit today, Naruto," he hissed out, never raising his voice.

God forbid the neighbors hear something Naruto was sure they heard any time Kushina wasn't home.

He hurried to the passenger side of the broken down red Dodge Neon. Naruto loved this beat up car, but it held awful memories inside that he didn't care to recall. Once inside, he hooked up his seat belt in record time, sitting straight and staring out the windshield. He didn't even flinch when Minato took his hand.

"Naruto, you know I…" the man paused, then squeezed Naruto's hand tightly, causing the younger male the wince. "Look at me!" Minato hissed, and Naruto obliged, looking his father in eyes that were so identical to his own. Fuck he hated those eyes. "Naruto," his voice was considerably softer, "you know I love you right?" At Naruto's nod, Minato smiled softly, and for a moment, the younger male almost wanted to believe that his father was serious this time. Eyes still on his son, the older blonde kissed the smaller knuckles that were in his own hand. Naruto licked his lips and gulped, his skin crawling. Minato's lips traveled from Naruto's knuckles, moving to his wrist, slowly up his arm, his shoulder.

"I'm going to late, and get another detention," Naruto whispered, his voice soft and shaky. Minato considered this for a moment, then nodded slightly and straightened out. He put on his seat belt and looked at Naruto, but the younger blonde had already turned away, his blue eyes staring lifelessly out at the world from his window.

Without any more words, Minato drove his son to Konoha Private; a co-ed private school that Minato had convinced Kushina would be good for Naruto. In the younger blonde's opinion, he was wrong. Then again, Naruto felt like Minato was wrong in many of the things he thought or did.

Once there, Naruto didn't even bother to look before he quickly opened the door.

"Fuck!" followed by a _smack_, made Naruto jump out of the car. His eyes widened slightly at the scene before him. On the ground, another boy dressed in the same uniform as Naruto lay. He slowly sat up and rubbed his head, which Naruto noticed was the color of a raven's feathers. Ironically, its style reminded Naruto of poultry ass in the back, while the front made him think of the feathers. As of now, the raven-haired male's hair looked an awful like its feathers had been ruffled.

It was sort of strange; comparing someone to a bird. That was Naruto's favorite animal. Birds were so free, so happy. The corner of his lip twitched into a small smile at the thought of birds, but it quickly disappeared when the dark-haired male turned his gaze – no, his glare – on Naruto. He had scarily blackened eyes; they reminded Naruto of the little black pieces of coal that were put on Frosty for his eyes. Coincidentally, the other male had pale skin that made the blonde think of snow.

Holy shit. This guy was compromised of basically everything Naruto liked. Birds, Frosty, and snow! That was amazing!

"You _idiot_!" Naruto blinked his blue eyes and refocused on the raven-haired male, still sitting on the cement. "Who the _fuck_ just opens their door that fast, that hard, when there is clearly a pedestrian? Are you that stupid?" the guy hissed.

Scratch everything. This guy reminded Naruto of a snake. He hated snakes.

"You're the one who's walking like three feet from the car, you dumbass!" he retorted, somewhat astonishing himself with his retaliation. It wasn't like Naruto was a pushover – well, unless Minato was the one doing the pushing – but he was usually happy to spit on someone's shoes and leave it at that. But he kind of wanted to… kick this guy. Or do something else that would hurt him.

The guy sat there for a second longer, before jumping up with remarkable agility and moving closer to Naruto. With those coal black eyes glaring at him only a foot away, Naruto was surprised when he didn't shrink back. Whenever Minato gave him such a glare, Naruto wanted to hide. But this raven-haired snowy guy… sort of gave him more adrenaline. It was odd, but for some reason, Naruto really didn't want to just walk away. He wanted to fucking fight. "I think you are mistaken," the pale male informed Naruto, his words still hissing and slithering into Naruto's ear drums like a snake, "fore I am not the dumbass."

As Naruto opened his mouth to continue the battle, there was a feminine voice that called attention as she yelled out, "Sasuke!" and before Naruto was fully aware of what was happened, the raven haired male was suddenly encircled by a girl with long bleach blonde hair. She had eyes that were lighter – though duller – than Naruto's own. "Sasuke, I missed you!" she purred, and Naruto cocked his head curiously. A snake and a cat? How odd. The raven pushed the girl away from him, gave a sound similar to a grunt, and turned away. He then proceeded to walk off in a way that could be considered dignified – if Naruto thought of this Sasuke-bird-snake-snow person as dignified – with the little blonde girl trotting after him.

"Naruto," he heard his name being called by yet another feminine voice, and he turned. A girl with pink hair and green eyes gave him a pleasant smile. Her outfit was similar to his, except she wore a skirt with thigh-high white socks. Originally, the principal had tried to get the girl to change her hair, but despite getting thrown out several times, she continued to keep her hair pink. Eventually, the school just let it go, considering she wasn't really distracting anyone.

"Sakura-chan, hi!" Naruto waved, grinning at the girl who'd become a close friend of his. She was the only person who knew about Naruto's home life.

A clearing throat caused Naruto to tense, and then turn around. "Naruto, get your bag and shut the door so I can go to work," his words held an underlying threat and Naruto wasted no time hurrying to grab his back pack. "Oh, and," Minato spoke before Naruto could shut the door, "try to stay out of any more fights," his gaze moved pointedly to Sasuke's retreating back.

Sakura wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist and waved at Minato, grinning to hide her anger. "Don't worry, Namikaze-san, I'll make sure he keeps out of trouble," she said politely as Naruto shut the door. When he drove off, Sakura turned her blonde friend around, looking at his black eye. The pain in her green eyes caused Naruto to take a step back, and he flashed a reassuring smile.

"It's not a big deal, Sakura-chan," he said, laughing it off, "It's just a bruise. I'll be fine," he shrugged simply and turned away. "By the way, who's that raven guy? He seems like a prick."

Sakura chuckled slightly and moved to Naruto's side, hooking her elbow around his. "Well, that's because you can be so annoying and dense," her tone was playful as she giggled. "I think he's hot. And apparently, so does Ino. I really hate her," she pouted slightly, then turned to give Naruto a smile. "Anyway, his name is Sasuke. He transferred here last week, but you…" she broke off, turning her green eyes away.

Naruto sighed softly, nodding his head. He had been in the hospital. "Either way, Sasuke seems like a prick. I'm way hotter," he teased, nudging the girl playfully in the ribs.

She nodded enthusiastically, giggling, "Oh, yes, Naru-sama, so much hotter!" Sakura's giggles died as she looked at her blonde companion's eye. She leaned forward slightly, a hand reaching up to brush the messy blonde locks from his forehead. "You just got out of the hospital, too," she murmured softly, her green eyes full of emotion.

"I-I fell. Um, into my… door," Naruto muttered pathetically, brushing her hand away from his face. Truthfully, it wasn't like the scenario couldn't have happened. Despite managing to – somehow – keep up decent grades in the private school, Naruto was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. It wasn't so much that he was really stupid; he was just clumsy and hated to study. Even so, Sakura gave him a knowing look, and eventually the blonde male sighed and gave in. "I didn't clean my room when I got home the other night," he mumbled, before quickly adding, "but like I said, it's just a little bruise!"

Sakura opened her mouth to comment, but the sound of the bell interrupted her. "Oh, shit! Come on!" she grabbed the blonde's wrist and sprinted to the doors of the school. Sakura was known for always being on time – early, actually – so even a second late would be enough to piss her off. She was pretty scary when she was pissed off, and Naruto would hate the bear the brunt of her anger.

The two entered their only shared class seconds before the bell. Sakura looked thankfully skyward, scurrying to her seat. Naruto followed to his seat, next to the pinkette. Their very first day of junior year, their teacher – a soft-spoken and yet still somehow harsh brunette named Iruka – had allowed them to choose their own seats. Naturally, being friends since they were in diapers, Sakura and Naruto sat next to each other from day one. Naruto often tried to get out of his work by cheating off of Sakura, but a simple warning glare and the beginnings of another lecture about being "responsible" and "independent" forced Naruto to do his own work. Then again, it wasn't too difficult; for whatever reason, Physics came naturally to the blonde.

As Iruka was passing around the assignment for the day, Ino came into the class with a large smile and pink cheeks. Naruto nudged Sakura slightly and gestured to the other girl, "She seems happy," he whispered.

Sakura glanced at the girl briefly before shrugging slightly, "Maybe she just finished her morning sex? It would explain why she's late," she grinned at Naruto, who chuckled softly and nodded.

The female blonde took her seat next to a geeky kid at the table in front of Sakura and Naruto. The only reason she'd chosen that seat was to cheat off of the poor kid. Still, the guy didn't seem to mind much, if his blushing face was any indication. Ino leaned back slightly, looking over her shoulder at the two seated behind her, "Guess what happened to me."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged a look, before the pinkette set her elbows up on the table, her chin resting in the palms of her hand, "You're pregnant?" she asked innocently, cocking her head, while Naruto tried to stifle his chuckles.

"Nope," Ino grinned, unaffected, "Sasuke and I are going on a date Friday."

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES: <strong>_Confused? Good, it means I'm doing something right, haha. Please review, give me feedback so far. Even if you wish to insult me and call me names, I supposed it's still feedback, ha. Please also tell me about any spelling or Grammatical errors. I type a lot whenever I should be sleeping, and even though I've re-read this at least twenty times, I can't promise that there aren't any mistakes. If you catch any, please inform me._


	2. Two

**Chapter Two;  
><strong>_"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding."  
>- Ralph Waldo Emerson<br>_

Something soft and wet rubbed against his face. The sleeping body groaned softly and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head slightly. The soft wet thing refused to give up, attacking his face with more vigor now that it realized he was up. Dark eyes opened slightly, just a crack, to look into another pair of eyes. The soft wet thing stopped attacking his face. "Aika, you have to stop waking me up this way," he sighed, forcing his eyes to open fully. A red-tinged dog lay on his chest; her short ears pricked forward, her milk chocolate eyes looking at him with rapt interest. Sasuke stretched his arms, and then Aika stood, her small white paws still on the raven-haired male's chest. He looked at the dog, the smallest of smiles twitching on his face. "I need you to get off of me if you want to eat," he said softly. The dog's head cocked to the side at the words, before she leapt from her owner's bed, landing softly on the ground. Her curled, thick tail swished back and forth in a way that made Sasuke worry it would fall off. She twirled around once as the raven stood, then raced from his bedroom.

Onyx eyes slid from the open door where his dog had vanished, to the alarm clock on his nightstand. As usual, the dog woke him an hour before he set his alarm; it was to ensure she was fed and walked. His eyes moved skyward briefly, before he finally made his way into the kitchen. He had a small apartment; one bedroom, a sitting room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There were small walkways in the sitting room that led to each room, and this was the only way the rooms were connected. It was sort of irritating when one woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and had to stumble around the different walkways until one was finally used to the damn layout.

Once in the kitchen, Sasuke went about preparing Aika's meal. As the fox-like dog ate, he leaned against the counter and surveyed the poor excuse of a kitchen. There was, for starters, very little counter space. He was unable to cook anything too extravagant, or anything that required more than maybe three ingredients. It meant for a lot of simple, quick, usually microwavable meals and take-out. Yawning, the raven pushed away from the counter and made his way through the sitting room and into the bathroom. He left the door open, knowing that Aika would follow him once she was finished eating. He turned on the shower, removed his t-shirt and boxers, and stepped in; because the water rarely heated to a comfortable degree anyway, he didn't see much difference in stepping into the cold water immediately versus waiting for it to "heat up." Shivering slightly, he washed his hair and body quickly. When he was finished, Sasuke turned off the water and pulled back the curtains, looking down. Sure enough, chocolate eyes looked up from where the medium-sized dog lay beside the tub.

As Sasuke stepped out, she jumped up quickly and darted from the bathroom and into his bedroom. Again, the raven's features twitched into a smile as he grabbed a towel from the cabinets below the sink, wrapping it around his waist. Still dripping, he walked into his bedroom where, as usual, the fox-like canine was waiting for him on his bed, her tail wagging quickly. She watched him; her eyes practically demanding that he hurry and dress so she could get outside to walk. With a small smirk, the raven-haired male did just that, dressing in sweat pants and a t-shirt – he didn't want to ruin his school clothing, after all.

Once he was finished, he once again walked into the sitting room, grabbing the dog's leash where it hung on a nail in the wall by the front door. He clipped it to her collar and took her out. The two walked around the apartment complex, sometimes entering the neighborhood beside the apartments, for half an hour, before they returned home to the beeping alarm clock. As he unclipped the dog's leash, she returned to his bedroom, Sasuke following behind her. Aika stepped into her crate, circled once, and then she lied down. The raven turned off the alarm and began dressing for school.

He walked to school, his eyes downcast. Now that the dog was no longer with him to force a smile on his face, the Uchiha was able to keep up his mask of careless arrogance. He continued to walk along the sidewalk next to the school, not entirely paying attention to anything around him – after all, who would dare disturb his peace? As though the Gods were smiting his arrogant thoughts, however, he felt something hard shove into his side, and he was sent to the ground, cursing loudly. Slowly, Sasuke sat up, listening as a few people began whispering. He rubbed the side of his head, wincing slightly when his fingertips brushed against a forming lump. The raven whirled on his attacker, taking in the open door of a beat up red car. Standing behind the door, a blond male stared down with shocked eyes. Quickly, his calculating eyes took in the bruise around one of his electric eyes, as well as the strange marks on either side of his face. The blond almost looked like a fox, which almost – almost – made the Uchiha not want to allow himself to get angry.

However, the whispers grew louder, and being that he was a prideful Uchiha, Sasuke decided he simply couldn't let the other male get away with hitting him with a car door. He glared harder, growling, "You _idiot_! Who the _fuck_ just opens their door that fast, that hard, when there is clearly a pedestrian? Are you that stupid?"

Sasuke watched as the blond's shocked expression turned into one of anger as he screeched, "You're the one who's walking like three feet from the car, you dumbass!"

The raven blinked. Did that idiot just call him a dumbass? Narrowing his eyes, the dark-haired male stood, walking quickly to the blond, where he stopped a little less than a foot in front of him. "I think you are mistaken," he hissed, "for I am not the dumbass."

Before he could continue, another blonde barreled into him, clinging to him. Sasuke glared down at the small female who looked up at him with wide light blue eyes. Glancing from the female blonde to the male, Sasuke almost wanted to laugh at the other guy's confused face. Of course he didn't; he was a stoic Uchiha, after all.

With his signature "Hn," Sasuke pushed the girl away from him and turned away, heading into the school building. The little blonde girl skipped after him. He could hear her shoes – those God-awful shiny grey shoes – tapping against the cement, and then on the fake tiled floors. The school itself was bland; white walls, white ceiling, and white plastic floors. For a private school, Sasuke had honestly expected something more his level, but instead he got, well, something far below his level.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

Speaking of below his level…

Sasuke turned to the light-eyed girl, his keen eyes immediately taking in her appearance. She wore her uniform tight. The blazer was open, and the first few buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned to reveal her cleavage. Her skirt was short; if she bent slightly, she'd show off her ass to the school. She was not unattractive at all, but her attempts at gaining attention made her seem desperate. She smiled up at him, tilting her head slightly so her bangs moved from her face.

"Let's go out sometime," she suggested, her cheeks reddening with the question.

Of course, his immediate impulse answer was no, but he actually thought about it. Maybe it would take his mind off of his own problems, and it wasn't like the girl was repulsive. Shrugging, Sasuke turned and continued down the hall to his classroom. It was a College-level Calculus class that was, in his mind, too simple for words. He paused at his locker, opening it and retrieving his black shoulder bag, before continuing to the door. Hand on the handle, he looked over his shoulder, "Friday, seven o'clock in the evening. You can leave your information in my locker, and I'll call you," his voice was monotone as he spoke. Without bothering to wait for her response, he opened the door and walked into the classroom.

Ino was left stunned. Sasuke had rarely ever even grunted at anyone in the week and a half he'd been there, but he'd just spoken an entire two sentences; he agreed to go on a date with her. The bell rang, signaling to the blue-eyed girl that she was late. Quickly, she dug in her purple purse, pulling out a pen and paper. Using her knee, Ino wrote down her phone number and the address to her house. She then scurried to Sasuke's locker, sliding the paper through the slits in the metal door, before hurrying to her first class; Physics.

Iruka turned to her, sighed, but said nothing as the blonde made her way to her seat in front of Sakura and Naruto. Once seated, she leaned back and gave Sakura a cocky grin, sure that the pink-haired girl would be jealous, "Guess what happened to me?"

She watched as the two friends exchanged glances before Sakura answered with a very rude response of, "You're pregnant," with an innocent look. Though Ino would have liked to punch the girl, she continued to grin.

"Nope, Sasuke and I are going on a date Friday," she spoke with arrogance very clear around her words, watching with satisfaction as Naruto and Sakura both appeared surprised by this.

"Why?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

Ino rolled her eyes and sighed, "Because he's sexy?" she said as though it were obvious.

"No, he's really not," Naruto muttered, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're a dude."

"And?"

"And dudes don't think other dudes are hot."

Naruto cocked his head, obviously confused by Ino's assumption, "What if they're gay?"

"Are you gay?" Ino challenged, raising her brow.

Naruto opened his mouth, but paused. Was he gay? He glanced at Sakura, who was glaring at Ino. He thought Sakura was pretty, but he'd never felt any type of romanticism for her. Looking around the room, he realized he'd never really felt any kind of romantic feelings for anyone. So then, what did that make him? "I'm-"

"Going to get a detention if you don't quiet down, Naruto," Iruka looked at Naruto, with warning very clear in his usually kind brown eyes.

"Sorry, Iruka-sen- er, Mr. Iruka," Sakura spoke for Naruto. Being used to speaking Japanese with Naruto and his family made it somewhat difficult to keep to English words, especially when she was flustered or trying to keep her blond friend from trouble. She knew that detention would mean an angry Minato, and the pinkette felt that Naruto could use a break from his father. When Iruka turned and walked away, Sakura turned to Ino, "Okay, how'd you do it? What trick did you use?" she arched one of her pink eyebrows, clearly disbelieving that Ino snagged the raven-haired male so quickly, especially being that he'd only just arrived.

Ino merely rolled her eyes, "I didn't use any trick. I just asked, and he told me that we'll be going out Friday," she stuck her tongue out childishly at Sakura.

"Isn't today Wednesday?" Naruto looked at Ino, tilting his head.

Ino nodded, "Speaking of, where have you been? It's been so quiet here I wanted to just fall asleep."

Naruto and Sakura both froze, exchanged another glance, and then shrugged carelessly.

"Vacation."

"Sick."

They spoke at the same time, and looked at the other again. Before they could say anything, two pink rectangular slips of paper were slammed on the table, causing each of them to jolt. They looked up, watching as Iruka slammed another one in front of Ino, and then walked off without another word.

"Aw, man! Oh well, at least it's for today," Ino shrugged and sat up so she could talk the geeky kid into giving her answers – not that he needed much convincing.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, "Sakura-chan, he's going to kill me," he whispered as quietly as he could, eyes looking at his pink-haired friend.

"No, he won't. Talk to Mr. Iruka and try to get him to allow you to do some extra credit work instead," she suggested, her big green eyes wide with worry. If their teacher didn't allow Naruto to do that, then she'd try to be able to stay at the blond's house for the next couple of weeks, until Minato forgot about the detention or just gave up.

"I don't know," he murmured, "let's just shut up and pay attention," Naruto sighed, looking up at the front as Iruka continued with their lesson.

* * *

><p>Sasuke inwardly groaned; he'd never verbally voice his discomfort and quite childish anxiety. Truthfully, he was tired of sitting around. He was in his third period, American Government. While everyone else around him continued to work on their assignment, Sasuke had already finished his. With a quiet sigh, he crossed his arms over the desk and put his head down on his arms. Dark eyes stared outside the large window, watching as wind shook the trees. It was nearing autumn; the evidence was clear in the way the green leaves were beginning to change colors. Sasuke enjoyed the autumn season; the colors were so much more interesting to him than the normal greens that one saw during spring.<p>

"Sasuke," he heard someone whisper. Lifting his head from his arms, he looked into the light grey eyes of another person who had finished before the others. Without waiting for the Uchiha to say anything – because he knew that the raven-haired male wouldn't – Neji cocked his head slightly and continued, "I heard that you and Ino are dating. That doesn't seem like you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly. Of course news had already spread that he was taking her out on Friday. He sat up straight, arching a brow slightly at the brunet. "You've known me for a little over a week. How exactly can you assume that that doesn't seem like me?"

"Because you constantly pushed her, as well as every other female, away. I was starting to think you were gay, actually," Neji mused softly, "So, it's true, then. What's your ulterior motive?" he pressed.

"We aren't dating. I decided that I would take her out Friday, and that's it. No ulterior motive, Hyuuga," he whispered and turned to face the front of the room.

"Somehow, I doubt that, Uchiha."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, turning to glare at the brunet, "And why does it matter to you?" he challenged.

Neji shrugged slightly, "It doesn't, really. However, I believe you deserve someone of higher caliber than her. I would have assumed she was rather below your standards."

"As flattered as I am that you care oh-so deeply for me," Sasuke drawled, "I'm fairly sure that the laws of this country allow me to choose whomever I wish to date."

"I thought you said you weren't dating," the brunet smirked.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and growled, "You know what I mean. Should I choose that she's worthy, it shouldn't concern you. In fact, it doesn't concern you," his words were dripped in finality, hoping to end the conversation already.

Neji shrugged slightly as the bell signaling the end of third period rang. The Hyuuga stood, carefully organizing his papers, before he put the folder in his backpack and left the classroom for A-lunch.(*)

With a soft sigh, the raven also put his things in his shoulder bag, left the History room, and entered his fourth period class; it was a Physiological Psychology class he'd decided to take. The class was set up like a science class, with black tables and two stools for each table. He took his seat at the back, where his table was near the window. In front of him, Sakura sat at her table followed by a kid with messy brown hair. He had some type of bandages over both of his cheeks. Sasuke was sure he was in one of his classes, but he could put a name to the face. They were talking quietly.

"… just can't believe he'd go out with someone like her. She's so…" Sakura tilted her head and wrinkled her nose slightly as she thought, "Well, you know."

The brunet gave her a toothy smile, longer-than-average canines making one think he was rather dog-like. "I totally get what you mean," he nodded, turning in his seat to look at Sasuke through small brown eyes, "So, let's ask the man himself. Why Ino?"

Sasuke arched a brow slightly and sighed, "Why do you care?"

Sakura laughed, "Probably because you don't seem the type to date sluts," she spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The male with shaggy brown hair turned to her quickly, "Hey!" he shouted, causing the pinkette to grin at him.

"What? Let's face it, Kiba, you do have pretty low standards," she giggled, sticking her tongue out in a playfully childish manner.

Kiba snorted and glared half-heartedly at her, before turning to Sasuke again and grumbling, "I hate to admit it, but she's right. I have low standards, but someone like you dating someone like Ino?" he gave a look of disbelief before continuing, "Why, man?"

"Because it's my life, and I will do with it what I choose," the Uchiha bit back harshly, irritated with others trying to understand his reasoning. It was none of their business.

"Well, I'm pleased to see that it's not just me you're a complete asshole to," a chuckling voice spoke. The three speaking teens turned to look at Naruto, who waved happily. He was standing next to Sasuke's table. The blond tilted his head slightly and pointed to the stool that Sasuke was sitting on, "You're in my seat," he voiced, still smiling.

"I don't see your name written on it," the raven said, causing Naruto's smile to widen.

"Really? I was sure I put it there," he laughed, moving closer, causing Sasuke to tense slightly. The blond bent down and pulled on the legs of the stool, forcing Sasuke to either stand or fall. Of course, choosing to avoid more humiliation by falling on his ass because of some idiotic blond kid – again – the raven stood; though his glare was likely going to cause Naruto to spontaneously combust. Naruto pointed to the seat, and, just as he'd said, his name was carved in all capital letters, "See? N-A-R-U-T-O; Naruto," he grinned cheekily.

"Hn," the Uchiha cocked his head, onyx eyes looking at the blond as he spoke emotionlessly, "I'm surprised you can even spell," he inwardly smirked with satisfaction at the red-faced male. Sasuke took the stool that was next to Naruto – the one without the blond's name – and sat on it, still in the same spot as before, sending a smug look in Naruto's direction.

Blue eyes narrowed slightly, the smile on his face becoming strained, "You really are an asshole," he forced out a laugh.

Sasuke shrugged carelessly and turned his attention to the pink-haired girl, "Is Kakashi always this late?" he questioned, his eyes looking to the clock at the front of the classroom. Though neither of them seemed to hear the bell, class should have begun almost fifteen minutes ago. "With Iruka subbing for him, I didn't really notice it at first. Does he even show up?"

Sakura shrugged slightly, sighing, "Yes. We're lucky if he even shows up at all," she grimaced.

"Lucky?" Naruto snorted, "I love it when that perverted guy doesn't show."

"I'm hurt, Naruto. Here I thought you enjoyed my lessons," the group turned to the silver-haired man. He was standing just behind Naruto, though when he got there neither of the four could say. Naruto cowered slightly, scratching at the back of his head in a nervous manner. Sasuke's eyes scanned over the teacher's face, somewhat confused by the mask that covered his mouth and nose and the eye-patch that covered his left eye. What, was he trying to be a pirate or something?

"Of course I enjoy your lessons, Mr. Kakashi," the blond laughed nervously, "They're so much more interesting than any of the others," he nodded quickly.

Kakashi chuckled, "I'm glad," he turned away from Naruto, looking over the shorter male's shoulder at Sasuke, "I'm sorry if my tardiness inconveniences you," he smiled beneath the mask, not sounding sorry at all.

"Hn," the raven-haired male turned away from the strange teacher, focusing on the table.

Kakashi turned away from the group, walking to his desk at the front of the class. As he passed, he easily reached out and plucked a wolf hat off of the head of one of the students. With an indignant shout of, "Hey!" the student glared at Kakashi as the teacher set the hat on his desk.

"River, you know hats aren't allowed. You can have it after class," the silver-haired teacher smiled. River rolled his eyes and sat back down, grumbling about the annoyance of school. Still smiling, Kakashi looked at the grumbling teen, "When did you bleach your bangs?" he cocked his head slightly.

River grinned and ran a hand through his jet black hair, which barely brushed his shoulders, "Last night. Doesn't it look awesome?" his blue eyes slid to the brunet male beside him and he smirked slightly, "Jake really enjoyed it brushing against his face last night."

The brunet's face reddened to a degree that seemed almost unnatural. He glared at River through dark brown eyes, "Shut up!" Jake squeaked, causing everyone – minus a rather bored Uchiha – to snicker. River's smirk broadened to a grin, and he threw his arms around Jake, placing a kiss on the embarrassed male's cheek.

Kakashi sighed slightly, "River, as much as I'd love to hear about how you took Jake over the bed, on the wall, and wherever else you two happen to enjoy it-"

"Which includes the kitchen table, his parents' bed, behind the bleachers, the janitor's closet-"

"River!"

"-I do actually have a class to teach," the silver-haired teacher continued as though he hadn't been interrupted.

Sasuke had hardly paid any attention to the conversation going on, his head resting on the table. His eyes were shut as his mind worked, sending him images that he didn't particularly care to see; fire, charred bodies, blood. He could smell the stench of burning flesh. He could hear the cries, the pleas. He could see the betrayal in their eyes.

"… Naruto and Jake, and finally, Sasuke and River," Sasuke looked up as he heard his name. Kakashi's visible eye was on the roll sheet for a moment longer, before he looked up with a nod of his head. "That's it. Get with your partners now," he spoke in a bored, yet demanding tone – how the hell one could pull that off was beyond the raven male. His dark eyes looked at the table where the other black-haired student sat. He noticed the guy's storm blue-grey eyes glaring at the teacher.

"Kakashi, no offense to you, but I dislike your partnering decision," he growled out, his arm wrapping possessively around Jake's shoulders. His eyes went from the masked teacher to Naruto, narrowing dangerously as his upper was pulled back in a silent snarl that caused the blond to shiver.

The slender brunet rolled his eyes as he removed River's arm. "River, chill out. It's not like Naruto is going to rape me," his brown eyes looked up to meet Naruto's frightened stare, "Right, Naru?" he grinned.

River growled at the sudden nickname, wishing that his eyes were able to cause the shivering blond to burst into flames. "Naru?" he said the name as though it were poison rolling off his tongue.

"If you would like to rip him apart, River, please wait until my class is over with," Kakashi sighed, exasperated with the disturbance.

Sasuke, too, was growing irritated with the other raven teen's possessive attitude. He stood up, picked up his bag, and walked across the room to the table Jake and River sat at. The pale man dropped his bag on the table and looked pointedly at the brown-haired male still sitting next to his boyfriend. Jake blinked up at him for a moment, before he stood quickly, mumbling an apology as he rushed away. River pouted as his stormy eyes watched the slender male hurriedly take a seat next to Naruto. He then turned to glare at Sasuke. "You're kind of an ass, aren't you?" he growled.

"We have a project, no?" the dark-eyed teen questioned, though he himself had no clue what the project was on considering he hadn't even been listening.

River grumbled a moment before raising his hand, "Kakashi, do I have to-"

"Yes," the silver-haired man responded without bothering to look up from the book he was reading.

"But-"

"If you don't want to, then I can do it by myself. If you're just going to be a nuisance, there's no reason for us to bother with this partner business," Sasuke said evenly, onyx eyes glaring slightly at the tanned male beside him.

River returned the glare, speaking through his teeth, "No, it's perfectly fine. Just make sure your brain isn't fried from all the information, Vampy." Sasuke blinked at the strange new nickname, before shrugging and turning away. River grinned cheekily at the other raven's confusion. "Well, you certainly look like a vampire. Pale skin, black eyes and hair," he snickered, "Do you sparkle in the sun, Vampy?"

Sasuke's eyes turned to glare again at the male beside him. "Unfortunately for you, I'm afraid I cannot indulge your strange fantasies. Now, are we going to do this or not?" he growled.

River snorted slightly, "Fantasies? Sorry, but the only fantasies for me involve Jake," he paused as a thoughtful look came across his features, "and maybe some rope," he chuckled, before running a hand through his bleached bangs. "Anyway, our project is about biopsychology, so we better get started," he rubbed his hands together and blew out, his bangs lifting from his eyes before falling back in place. The blue-eyed teen pulled a thick book from his backpack, dropping it with a thud on the table. He opened it and began flipping to the page he needed. "Alright, do you want to draw or write?" he questioned, turning his storm-colored eyes to the onyx pair beside him.

"Write," the raven spoke without a moment's pause. Sasuke pulled a notebook and pencil from his shoulder bag, eyes looking over the content in the book, mind already working on what was important and what wasn't.

"Which means I get to draw," River grinned, pulling out a sketchbook and setting it in front of him. He flipped passed a few other drawings, coming to a clean page. "So, Vampy, we aren't going to be able to finish this thing with just class time. You can come to my apartment this Saturday, 'kay? I'll see you there," the teen grinned and, without waiting for Sasuke to confirm it, he turned away and began working on his drawing of the human brain.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<strong>_ Wooo. Wasn't that entertaining? No? Yeahhh, I don't blame you. This chapter was kind of... bleh. A lot of it had to be forced out because my fingers wouldn't write what I wanted them to. I'm not sure why, but this chapter was just so freaking hard to write. I'm really sorry about the wait, and then the terrible chapter... ugh. And yes, there is a reason it seems to be going slow. Next chapter will be a LOT more interesting, but it will also be darker, sort of like the first chapter. I really dislike this chapter, and I'll probably come back and revise it later on. But you guys really needed an update, and I needed to stop being so lazy and indecisive. I hope this was good enough for now._

_***** - Not sure how it is in the rest of the world, but in Texas, we have this system for lunches. Fourth period is an hour and a half. The first thirty minutes is A-lunch, then it's B-lunch, then C-lunch. Sometimes it changed per day, but for simplicity's sake, it's going to remain constant. A-lunch is the beginning of class. After thirty minutes, anyone who had A-lunch then goes to class. B-lunch is like in the middle of class. I, personally, like B-lunch the most; you can do some work, then go recharge, then complete your work. It's the best, in my opinion. C-lunch is at the end of class. C-lunch is one of the worst for students, but not necessarily for teachers. And just a side note, having A-lunch made it ridiculously easy to skip class. Kinda boring, actually. B-lunch you can't skip - at all; I mean, if you even tried it, that's just plain stupidity on your part. You were already in class once, so your teacher knows your there. That's like begging for a detention. Of course, many people have certainly tried. Hopefully that wasn't a confusing explanation...  
><em>


	3. Three

**Chapter Three;  
><strong>_"People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict."  
>- Lemony Snicket, <em>The Grim Grotto

A loud slam echoed around the emptying hall; the sound of a rather angry student shutting his ugly green locker door with more force than truly necessary caused a few students to jump and stare for a moment, before simply shaking their heads and continuing to walk by. The blond male glared at the metal beast as if it were the cause of all of his problems. After losing the glaring match, he turned away and searched the thinning crowd for the only pink head in the school. As the crowd became smaller and smaller, Naruto sighed and turned to leave the building. She'd clearly already left for detention.

Iruka hadn't allowed for any extra-credit work to be done in place of detention. He said it was to improve "character" but Naruto was pretty sure he just wanted to see everyone suffering. Scowling, he continued out of the main building, and made his way toward another building, following the sidewalk.

The layout of the school frustrated the young blond quite a lot – more so today than usual. There was the main building, which held all of the four core classes for each grade level; then there was a spacious yard area where the archery class practiced; then a gym; and lastly, there was an entire building dedicated to detention. For reasons Naruto didn't even want to begin to fathom, they expected one room to be too small. And while they were sometimes correct, all three rooms were typically empty. What really irritated the teenager was in order to get to the detention building, one had to make the obnoxious trek around the archery yard. It was like they were trying to get their students pierced with an arrow or something.

At least you were never down-range. The sidewalk curved around the bench area, where parents could sometimes watch their kids shoot arrows at bullseyes.

As the blond came to the archery yard, his deep blue eyes found something of interest; Sasuke. Naruto cocked his head, his brows knitting in confusion. The raven-haired teen was standing very still, beneath a shaded covering. There was a bow in his hands, the string stretched out and tight. Sasuke had removed his school shirt, and Naruto could see the muscles of his back, arms, and shoulders straining underneath his surprisingly pale skin. Slowly, the muscles in the blond's face loosened, his face changing into a look of awe.

And then Sasuke released the arrow, sending it flying through the air. Naruto's eagle-sharp eyes followed it as it whistled its way to the bullseye. His body tensed when the pointed metal stuck the target, landing close to the center. From where Naruto stood, it looked only a couple centimeters off.

"Shit," Sasuke hissed, drawing Naruto's attention. As he positioned another arrow on the bow, his dark eyes shifted to Naruto. "If you don't need anything, leave," the words were spoken crisp and smooth, leaving very little room to argue. Satisfied that his tone of voice would most certainly send the Naruto off, Sasuke pulled the string and arrow back and readied himself to fire again.

Naruto had different ideas. He glowered at the other, his face contorted in an almost comical way. "Where do you get off telling me to leave? As far as I know, this is America, a free country. I have every right in the world to stand here," he finished with a nod and crossed his arms.

Snorting, Sasuke turned to look at Naruto with annoyance. "I don't enjoy being harassed by an incompetent loser who can't even be bothered to look outside his car window before opening the damn door," he growled.

Being reminded of his earlier mistake caused Naruto to wince and look down. He allowed the insults to fly in favor of apologizing. "Look, about that," he started, "I wasn't really thinking-"

"Obviously," Sasuke cut in.

"-and," Naruto growled, glaring slightly, "I was just having an overall off-day. Not that it's any of your business, my dad and I got into an argument and I just wanted to get out of the car," he finished quickly, only adding in a half-truth. Someone he'd just met didn't need to know all of Naruto's dirty little secrets.

If the older of the two teenage boys hadn't been watching the blond's face carefully, he'd have missed the way Naruto's face twitched as though he were recalling a horrible memory. If he were not an Uchiha, Sasuke might have doubted he'd even seen the barely-there look of fear and despair. But he knew he'd seen it, and it caused a spark of curiosity that he had to fight down. Sasuke was not a curious person by nature. There weren't many things that interested him, and even fewer of those things had to do with other people. Of course, he shouldn't have been surprised. Naruto was an interesting being; from his shock of humorously wild, yellow hair, to the strange marks that adorned his tanned cheeks. Certainly, upon first meeting, Sasuke knew Naruto was unique, and interesting, and one of the few humans to make Sasuke want to laugh.

"Are you going to talk or just stare at me for an hour?" Naruto's voice held obvious irritation, but the slight tint of pink on his dark cheeks showed that he was embarrassed.

Sasuke opened his mouth, then shut it again when he saw another figure rounding the corner. He wasn't at all surprised when light pink hair came into view.

"There you are!" Sakura exclaimed, exasperated as she jogged to Naruto's side. The blond male turned to his friend with confusion on his face, but the girl wouldn't allow him to speak. "I've been looking everywhere! You weren't at your locker, you weren't in any classrooms, and you weren't in detention," her green eyes were flamed with her annoyance. "Just what was so damn important that you're willing to risk another detention, Uzumaki?" Sakura huffed, placing her fists on her hips as she spoke.

Normally, the whole scene would have annoyed Sasuke. However, the name that Sakura used caused curiosity to – once again – spark up in him. Pushing aside the annoyance he felt at himself, the raven-haired teen spoke, interrupting whatever excuse Naruto was giving Sakura, "Uzumaki?" his deep voice held confusion, although his face remained blank. Sasuke loosened the string on his bow, removing the arrow and holding both in his right hand as he turned to fully face the two. Moving from the shaded area of the range, he walked closer to the two, stopping when he was a few feet. His dark eyes were on Naruto. "I thought your last name was Namikaze?" He distinctly recalled their teacher, Kakashi, using the name.

Naruto's blue eyes blinked in confusion for several seconds, before he remembered that Sakura was the only one who knew exactly why he preferred to be called Naruto Uzumaki. "Oh!" He opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head, laughing nervously. "My… my parents gave me a middle name, um, Uzumaki!" The blond shrugged. "They're weird, I know!" He gave another nervous laugh, folding his hands behind his head in an attempt to make it seem like no big deal. His blue eyes looked to Sakura for some assistance.

However, Sakura was quiet, a blush across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose as her eyes scanned over Sasuke's naked torso. Once the initial shock of seeing the attractive man's body up close was over, she noticed there were scars that ran along his body. Oblivious to Naruto's struggles, the girl gasped in shock when she finally noticed a particularly dark mark on Sasuke's side. "Oh, my gosh! Sasuke, what happened?"

Before Sasuke could respond to Sakura, Naruto was also looking, his blue eyes wide. "Jesus Christ! Did you get into a fight with a goddamn shovel?" His voice raised an octave, squeaking slightly, like a boy going through puberty. If Sasuke wasn't irritated by their sudden crowding, he would have brought that little fact up to the younger teen. As it was, however, the raven was ready to punch the two of them.

"No, I didn't get into a fight with a shovel," he drawled in a voice that clearly said just how stupid the idea was. Covering the wound with his free hand, Sasuke took a step back. "It doesn't matter what happened; it's healed and taken care of," he continued. Turning away from the two, Sasuke made his way back into the range, picking up his shirt and putting it on, buttoning it partially. He turned to the two again, looking at Sakura this time. "You said something about detention, did you not? Unless you really do want another, you two might find it in your best interest to hurry," Sasuke said, his voice ringing in finality, ending the conversation. He picked the bow and arrow back up, and quickly walked past Naruto and Sakura, the arrow in the bullseye completely forgotten.

Realizing that he was right, Naruto and Sakura quickly ran to the detention building. Thankfully, the detention teacher for the day was a timid, quiet blonde woman who wore glasses. Naruto was fairly certain she was a librarian, but he couldn't remember her name. The woman was willing to overlook their lateness, so long as the two sat near her desk. The compromise was very easy for both teens to make, considering what the consequences would be if they were each given another detention.

* * *

><p>When detention had finally been let out, Naruto went home with Sakura, where he called his mother to request he spend the rest of the week with his best friend. He wasn't at all surprised when his mother told him yes. He was, however, shocked when she continued.<p>

"Your teacher called to inform me that you had detention today," when Naruto confirmed, Kushina spoke again in a quieter voice, "Because this is your first detention in a very long time, I'll keep it between you and I, alright? Have fun at Sakura's," and hung up before Naruto could respond.

Confused, he hung up the phone and looked at Sakura, one blond eyebrow cocked. "Um, she's not telling Dad," he said, chewing on his bottom lip, his eyes looking away, "which is odd," he shrugged, "but whatever! Good for us, right?" Naruto looked up with a grin.

Sakura giggled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Now, let's go upstairs and talk about boys!" She winked and hurried to the stairs from the living room. Sakura's house was built almost completely identical to Naruto's; though that wasn't a huge surprise, as they lived in the same neighborhood.

"Are you going to start calling me gay, too?" Naruto groaned, referring to when Ino questioned him about it.

"Well, you never did answer her," Sakura pointed out with a mischievous smirk as she reached the landing and turned to face him.

"That's because Iruka came and gave us detention slips!" Naruto replied, throwing his arms up as he walked past Sakura and opened the door to her room.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that, Naru," she giggled, walking into her room. When Naruto followed, she shut the door. As her blond friend made his way to her bed, Sakura's face took on a more serious look. "But seriously," she began, causing Naruto to turn and look at her curiously when he noticed that her tone was serious, "did you see all those cuts on Sasuke's body?" She followed Naruto to the bed, sitting down. Naruto looked at her, nodded, and sat beside her.

"Yeah. I wonder what could have done that?" He bit his bottom lip as he thought.

Sakura nodded, scooting back and bringing her legs up so she cross them Indian style. "And he's so mysterious, too. I mean, a quiet and sort of dark guy is hot, but Sasuke kind of gives me the creeps. He feels so… dark and twisted, you know? Like," she shook her head, "like something we really shouldn't mess with," she paused, pursed her lips, "like something Ino shouldn't mess with," she finished quietly.

"I know what you mean," Naruto nodded in agreement, "but I think you're overreacting. He seems more… alone. Like he wants to be alone, but doesn't want to be alone," he shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think he seems dangerous, though," Naruto laughed. "I think you're just jealous that Ino's going out with him."

Sakura blushed. "I am not! Besides," her blush deepened, "I got to see him shirtless," she haughtily flipped her hair, though the short locks wouldn't flip over her shoulder.

"Lucky you," Naruto laughed and rolled his eyes. "Do you have anything to eat?" He asked, mostly to change the subject. He didn't want to admit that something about Sasuke freaked him out, too. There was something else about the dark-haired man, something that drew Naruto in more than the dark aura pushed him away. Sasuke, as Sakura had said, was mysterious, and dark, and twisted; Naruto didn't know how, he just knew that that was the feeling he got. But there was something else. Something that made it impossible for him to simply ignore Sasuke's existence, as he knew Sakura was going to suggest before Naruto had changed the subject.

"You're always hungry," Sakura rolled her bright green eyes, but led Naruto into the kitchen so they could raid the cupboards and fridge.

The rest of the night, Naruto surprisingly cleverly avoided the topic of boys and Sasuke.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sakura had contracted a stomach bug, and was in the bathroom vomiting before anyone was even awake. Naturally, her mother allowed Sakura to stay home, but because Naruto hadn't shown any signs of illness, the elder Haruno woman drove him to school, earlier than necessary, and told him to give her a call if he did end up sick. He waved goodbye to the woman who was like a second mom to him, before walking up to the school and sitting on the steps. After only a few minutes, Naruto remembered that Sasuke had left an arrow in the bullseye the day before. This thought led him to remember the scars on Sasuke's pale torso, and then the conversation between himself and Sakura the previous night. He thought about the possibility that Sakura was right, and Sasuke was one who should be ignored, forgotten about, and left alone. Whatever happened to him was his business, and his business alone.<p>

Even before Naruto stood up, however, he already knew what he was going to do. The young blond jogged around the school building to the archery range. Making sure there was no one else there, he quickly jogged down-range and was surprised to find the arrow still there. Just as he'd thought the day before, the arrow was only a few centimeters off its mark. Either way, it would be painful to be hit with that. His thoughts were again on the possibility of Sasuke being dangerous. He thought of the raven-haired man shooting him with the arrow. With now shaking hands, Naruto carefully pulled the arrow from the bullseye and examined the point.

A shiver ran down his spine. The metallic end was sharp; it had obviously been sharpened to a point for the soul reason of piercing something other than the bullseye material.

Sakura was certainly right. Sasuke was dangerous. Dangerous, and very possibly dark and twisted and cruel and… Naruto couldn't bring himself to think of someone he hardly knew as being _evil_ but Sasuke was beginning to feel that way. Evil or psychotic.

He shook his head. "Stop it, Naruto. Just… Just give him his arrow back, and you can be finished, just as Sakura wants," he mumbled to himself, turning away from the bullseye and jogging back around the school to the steps. Panting, he once again sat down, surprising to find that only a few minutes had passed, and there were only a few students other than himself around.

Slowly, though, the schoolyard became more and more filled as students arrived.

Naruto watched as the students clung in groups, laughing about something they were talking about. He watched as those groups squeezed out of tiny sports cars made specifically or rich brats to flaunt their cash. There were others who were just as alone as he; most of them owned more normal vehicles. There were a few clusters of avid high school hunters – not so politely called 'rednecks' – climbing from muddy pickup trucks. And of course there were those that hung at the bottom of the food chain, sitting around after their mothers had dropped them off early, doing some sort of studying that Naruto didn't care enough to look into. The majority of the school's inhabitants, however, were those that one would not picture at a private school. While sitting in their beat up, vintage cars, Naruto watched with little interest as pipes were lit up, the stoners ready for a quick fix before the annoyances of school began. The smoke drifted into the air, before being pushed away by the wind. The blond noticed a few others pause and sniff the air, before breaking out in knowing smiles, chuckling amongst themselves.

Blue eyes rolled, before looking away from the scene, landing on what was quickly becoming a familiar hairstyle. Scenes from the day before, as well as the conversation with Sakura flickered through his mind and pushed his body up. The blond quickly trotted after the raven walking along the sidewalk. "Sasuke," he called, but the other teen didn't stop. Sasuke didn't even seem to notice he was being called. "Sasuke!" Naruto called again, louder this time. Still, the raven continued on, rounding the corner of a building – some type of storage unit for the school, Naruto had always assumed. As soon as the blond stepped around the building, he jumped right back behind it, pressing his back against the brick. Hesitantly, he peeked around the corner, trying to appear invisible.

Sasuke's back was to him, but that wasn't what caused Naruto to jump back. In front of the raven, three others stood. On the left, a red-haired girl stared at the raven-haired teen through her glasses, and Naruto wasn't quite sure if she looked angry or hungry; maybe a bit of both. To her right, standing in the center, a man that might have been Sasuke's age stood with all the confidence and arrogance that the raven held in his onyx eyes. He had platinum hair with blue coloring the ends, and his eyes had to be contacts; no one could have purple eyes, could they? On that man's right, standing taller than the others, a man was looking at Sasuke with a blank expression that Naruto couldn't read. This man had unruly orange hair, brown eyes, and looked like he could easily wipe out an entire football team. The blond wasn't sure why he didn't just come out, but something told him to remain hidden; he didn't even breathe as he listened.

"… trouble, Sasuke," the man with the purple contacts sneered at the raven. "We have to pick up for your slack. You know you can't hide forever. Why do you even try?" his eyes narrowed, and his lips pulled into a sickening grin as he prodded Sasuke's chest and said, "Besides, you know he'll kill you if you keep this up. Wouldn't that just be a shame?" his voice dripped in sarcasm, "The wondrous, amazing, oh-so-powerful Sasuke Uchiha dead at the hands of his master," he snickered.

"Don't touch me," Sasuke growled, slapping the other's hand away. "Move, Suigetsu. I don't have time to waste on you," he continued. Though Naruto couldn't see his face, he could imagine those dark eyes just as cold and hateful as his voice.

"Sasuke," it was the girl who spoke this time, "just come back. This is becoming tiring."

"Then quit following me. It's none of your business, Karin," the raven turned his glare to her.

"It's all of our business, and you know it is. Because of your selfish ass, our asses are paying the price!" Suigetsu hissed, moving so he stood closer to Sasuke. "You can't run, and you know that! Do you want all of us to die?" his voice was steadily getting louder.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and rubbed his ear. "Shut up. Someone will hear you, dumbass."

Suigetsu grit his teeth and grabbed the raven-haired male by the collar of his shirt, bringing their faces close. "You think I care? Damn it, Sasuke, I'm really getting tired of you! If he weren't protecting you, I'd fucking smash your face in!" he spoke loudly.

"So you're afraid of him?" Sasuke taunted, one brow arching.

"Like hell I am!" the bleached-haired male yelled, bringing his fist back to punch the raven. As he swung, however, another hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Suigetsu turned his purple eyes to glare at the owner of the hand, following it up the arm and looking up into the brown eyes of the expressionless tall male. "Juugo, are you serious? Just let me hit him once and- ouch! That hurts!" he winced, trying to tug his wrist from the fist squeezing it.

"Sh. We have company," Juugo spoke softly, brown eyes looking up to meet blue.

_Shit,_ Naruto thought. He turned quickly, only to stop again when he was met with yet another man. This man had grey hair, though he couldn't have been much older than Sasuke. His grey hair was pulled into a messy pony tail at the base of his neck, his bangs framing his face. He was leaning against the building. As Naruto looked him up and down, the grey-haired man smirked and pushed up his glasses.

"Quite the nosy one, I see," he spoke in a voice that sent shivers up and down the blond's spine.

"Kabuto? Why are you here?" Naruto turned around to see Suigetsu's irritated face, Sasuke's collar still in his fist. His purple eyes glanced to the blond, before looking back up at Kabuto. "Did _you know who_ send you?"

Naruto blinked and tilted his head slightly, his brows furrowing in confusion. _'You know who?' Are they talking about some Harry Potter Voldemort shit?_ Blue eyes darted from person to person, completely confused.

"No, I came of my own accord. I just wanted to see how Sasuke was," his dark eyes looked at the raven, the smirk turning almost sadistic. "So, how are you, Sasuke?"

"I'd be a hell of a lot better if you'd disappear," the raven-haired teen replied instantly, his eyes narrowing at the bespeckled male in front of him. He slapped away Suigetsu's hand and stepped to the side, brushing out the wrinkles in his shirt.

"Sasuke, I'm hurt. Oro-" Kabuto was interrupted by a pale hand against his mouth. Dark grey eyes peered into wide purple orbs curiously.

"Shut up, you idiot! You can't just go throwing out his name in public!" Suigetsu hissed as he looked pointedly at Naruto. "This kid was the one spying, right? He could say something that would lead to some unfortunate events," he looked back to Kabuto.

The bespeckled man gently pushed away the other's hand. He sighed softly, pushing up his glasses. "You're too paranoid," he spoke in an amused voice, even as he pulled something that glinted in the sunlight from his pocket, "but I suppose you are correct."

Before Naruto was able to comprehend what was going on, he was pushed into the side of the building. The blond started wriggling and struggling to get free, but something cold pressing against his neck stopped him. He could hear his heart beating quickly in his ears as his eyes slowly opened – when had he closed them? – to look into the dark eyes of Kabuto. Naruto gulped, looking at the other man with wide, confused eyes.

The grey-haired man grinned maliciously; coupled with his murderous eyes, Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of a demon. His face was twisted in a terrifyingly evil – for that was truly the only word Naruto's mind could supply – way. "Maybe we should just go ahead and kill him, then?" his words were soft; his breath whispering over the blond's scarred cheeks.

"Kabuto," both Naruto and the aforementioned male turned to look at Sasuke. "I doubt he heard anything of importance. Besides, look around you. There are people everywhere. You'd only cause more trouble for him," the teen's tone was matter-of-fact, a slightly irritated look etching his face.

Kabuto glared at Sasuke, but stepped away from Naruto, returning the object to his pocket. "Right as usual, Sasuke," he said in a sickeningly pleasant voice, the glare replaced with a smile. Brushing back his bangs with one hand, Kabuto looked down at the watch around his right hand. "It's nearly time for your useless classes, Sasuke," he chuckled. "We'll leave you alone now," Kabuto looked pointedly at Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu, before walking around the storage building and disappearing from sight. Juugo followed quietly, followed by a hesitant Karin, who shot Sasuke a concerned look before she, too, disappeared.

Suigetsu glared at Sasuke. "I swear, Sasuke, if you cause too much trouble for us, I'll just kill you myself," he hissed, before his purple eyes were turned to Naruto, "and your friend, too," he finished as he turned and followed the other three.

When they were gone, Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto. He was staring in the direction the four had disappeared with a look of shock and fear on his face. As Sasuke's eyes moved south, he noticed the arrow in Naruto's trembling hand, which shocked him. "Where did you get that?"

The sudden voice jolted Naruto from his staring, and he turned to stare questioningly at Sasuke. "Huh?" He blinked, following Sasuke's eyes to his hand, where the arrow was. "Oh!" Naruto laughed and shut his eyes, pushing the troubling encounter from his thoughts for the moment. "Well, I remembered that you left it yesterday, so I wanted to make sure no one stole it or anything," he held out his hand so Sasuke could take back the object. When he didn't, Naruto opened his eyes again. Sasuke was staring at him with narrowed eyes, like he was trying to stare into Naruto's soul or something – at least, that's the way Naruto perceived it. Blinking, he took a step back. "Wh-what?" The blond stuttered slightly, confused.

"Why?" Sasuke questioned simply. When Naruto blinked dumbly at him, he rolled his eyes. "Why would you do that? What do you want in return? What's your ulterior motive?"

Now Naruto was really confused. "What? I don't have an ulterior motive. Can a guy just not be courteous?" He snorted, chuckling amusedly.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment longer, before hesitantly taking the arrow from him. "… Thank you," he murmured, the words foreign and uncomfortable on his tongue.

Naruto laughed. "You're way too uptight," he shook his head with a grin.

"I'm not-" Sasuke was interrupted by the bell signaling the start of school. Oblivious to the fact that Sasuke was about to respond, Naruto groaned and dragged his feet as he walked away, toward the building. Still shocked by the blond's kindness, the Uchiha watched him quietly, until he finally followed him back to the schoolyard, and then into the building, where they parted to attend their respective classes.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES: <strong>_Boom! WOW this chapter has taken soooo long! I'm pretty sure I already sent everyone a message explaining things, but if not, here's the gist of it: My computer broke, my grandmother was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, I lost all desire to write anything, I've been feeling very lost and depressed lately, and my dog and I are getting fat so I've been busy trying to shed the pounds. BUT! Look at this amazing chapter! Over 4500 words, guys! That's almost twice as long as the others, and like I said, I've been trying to increase the length. So yay! As promised, this chapter is a little darker than the previous one. Secrets about Sasuke shall unfold soon-ish. I don't want it to be too soon, but I don't want to have a bunch of filler chapters, haha! The next chapter will be the weekend, and I'll include information about Sasuke and Ino's date, and then the Sunday study group with River, Jake, Sasuke, and Naruto._

_Speaking of River and Jake, I'm so happy that you guys liked them! I added them in because I felt the story needed some comic relief, especially when all the serious shit really starts._

_By the way, I have two possible endings for this story, and I can't decide which one to use. I don't want to give too much away, but the first one will require a sequel, and the second one will not be able to have a sequel. Yes, that means that someone important dies. O: The first ending is DEFINITELY a happier ending, but if the story becomes too... light, then I might have to use the second ending... Plus, I'm kind of sadistic, and I kind of want to make y'all cry, hehe~ X3_

_Also, I want everyone to know that it was your reviews which helped fueled me into finishing this chapter, and beginning the next one. Seriously, y'all don't even know how thankful I am for all of the support. I didn't expect to get any reviews, and already I have seven. That makes me really, really happy! So thank you again, and please stick with me, even if my updates are erratic. I promise, it won't be like this forever!_


	4. Four

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_What's this? An... An update?! No way! Yes. Yes way. I have FINALLY provided you amazing people with an update! I have about 1,000 words written for the next chapter, and I'm on a serious roll, so hopefully you'll have another update in a week. I was originally going to make this chapter a lot longer, but I figured you guys have waiting long enough. So, without further adeu, I give you..._

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><p><strong>Chapter Four;<strong>  
><em>"A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most."<br>― George Bernard Shaw_

The next couple of days passed by uneventfully. Sakura was shocked when she discovered that it was already Friday morning when her alarm woke her and Naruto up for school. The day that Sakura was sick, Naruto had returned looking thoughtful and reserved, something that was definitely not like him, but he wouldn't talk to her about it no matter what she asked. She had a feeling that it was about Sasuke – in fact, she was pretty damn certain that it was all Sasuke's fault that her friend was now acting this way. The guy was hot, but seeing him the next day had pretty much solidified her slight fear of him. He was even more broody than usual, and he gave off the most horrid feeling. It was hard to even consider him attractive. She didn't want anything to do with him, and she had hoped that Naruto would be smart enough to listen to her.

However, she knew that was a long shot, and not something to hold her breath over. Naruto was surprisingly independent and spunky for a kid who was abused; yes, he had his moments where he'd flinch and cower, but Sakura was surprised – as well as impressed – by his upbeat attitude and his resiliency. Through the years spent with him, Sakura had come to admire and respect Naruto. While she did not have personal experience on the matter, she was certain that Naruto was stronger than most others who went through the things he did.

And yet, despite this, despite the fact that she knew Naruto was strong and capable of taking care of himself, she felt the need to protect him constantly.

After pushing the snooze button on her pink alarm clock, Sakura rolled over and looked at the scarred face of her best friend. He was snoring quietly, looking peaceful and serene. Sakura's pink comforter looked surprisingly amazing against his naturally tan skin, though she'd never voice that allowed to him. Although Naruto was one of the most sensitive, feminine men that she knew, he liked to think he was manly. Sakura giggled at the thought. _About as manly as a kitten,_ she mused to herself, running her fingertips gently over his scarred cheeks, her eyes softening and her lips forming a frown as she recalled the source of those scars.

Deep in thought, she almost didn't notice that her friend had stopped snoring, and that his eyes were open. "You look sad, Sakura-chan. Are you alright?" Naruto asked softly, tilting his head, his cheek pressing into Sakura's fingers.

"I'm fine. I was waiting for you to get up. You snore too loudly," she stuck out her tongue, pinched his cheek, and then quickly rolled out of the bed.

Naruto sat up and glared at her. "You liar! I don't snore!" he paused, looking away briefly, before looking back up at Sakura. "Do I?"

The pinkette laughed. "Yes! Like a rhinoceros!" she joked and dodged the white pillow that was thrown at her. "I'm kidding, chill out!" she giggled, before turning around and opening her closet. Sakura grabbed the hem of her shirt and started to pull it off before Naruto's yelling stopped her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he screeched.

Sakura looked at him over her shoulder. "Taking off my shirt so I can change?" there was a silent 'duh' at the end of her sentence.

"Not with me in here!" Naruto stood quickly and hurried to the door.

"Oh please. We bathed together," she rolled her eyes, but did nothing to stop him as he exited her room. Sakura pulled off her shirt and pajama pants, put on a bra, and quickly dressed in her school uniform so that Naruto had time to dress. She walked out of her room to find Naruto sitting against the wall in the hallway, a vacant expression on his face. Frowning, Sakura walked up to him, sitting in front of him. "Are you okay, Naruto? You've been so distant since you came home from school the other day," she said softly, her green eyes showing the concern she felt for her blond best friend.

Naruto looked up at her, into her eyes. He knew that he should tell her what had transpired between himself, Sasuke, and the group of four that had surrounded Sasuke. He also knew, however, that if he did, Sakura would only worry – and very likely threaten Sasuke, as well. In the end, Naruto shook his head and smiled up at her. "Don't worry so much, Sakura," with a sly grin, he poked the center of her forehead. "You'll get wrinkles that way."

Sakura slapped his hand away and glared at him. "Shut up," she mumbled, standing. "Go get dressed. Today's Friday!" her glare quickly formed into a brilliant smile. "Fridays are supposed to be happy!"

Naruto laughed and stood, too. Sakura was right. Fridays weren't for moping around and wondering about the possibilities of new kids being dangerous. "Ah, hey, isn't today the day that Sasuke and Ino are supposed to be going out?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Hm? Oh, it is, isn't it?" Sakura looked down and pursed her lips. "I'm going to try and talk Ino out of it. I just feel like he's got some ulterior motive or something," she said softly, more to herself than Naruto. Although the blond disagreed with his pink-haired friend, he only shrugged and entered her room. Naruto pulled his school uniform from Sakura's closet and dressed quickly. As he walked from Sakura's room, the girl was just stepping from the bathroom. She grinned at him as he moved closer. "Ready?" she asked, the scent of her mint mouthwash wafting in Naruto's nostrils.

"Yeah, I just need to brush my teeth," he answered her. Sakura stepped away from the door of the bathroom so Naruto could enter, then went downstairs as the blond brushed his teeth, too.

The pinkette made her way into the living room where she sat on the couch. She sighed, her thoughts immediately on Naruto – though they usually were. The two of them had grown up together after their parents grew a sort of bond over the fact that all four of them were of Japanese descent. At first, like everyone else who met him, Sakura had thought he was just an idiot who was too naïve to have even a little bit of pessimistic qualities. As they continued to grow, however, it was his optimism that Sakura had used as a crutch whenever she needed it. Naruto was there when Sakura was picked on. Naruto was there when Sakura's friends turned into her enemies. Naruto was there when Sakura's parents fought and went through divorce.

Through all of that, however, not once did she ever think that Naruto was going through something much, much worse. He always smiled, always gave this warmth of acceptance, love, and, as cliché as she found it, sunlight.

Yes, no matter how cliché it might have been, Naruto was Sakura's sunlight. Because she felt so strongly, there was a time in her life where she thought she liked him – possibly even loved him. And although she did love him, it didn't take her long to find that the love was platonic. It was strange, though, because it almost hurt her to think that she didn't love such a wonderful person in a romantic way. It made her wonder if she would ever even find love.

Oddly, the idea that Naruto was the only man she'd ever actually trust with her heart was comforting, even If Naruto himself found someone else. And even though he'd never shown any interest in anyone, Sakura was convinced that there just had to be someone out there for him. Someone who was equally as wonderful, who would come and rescue him from his torment, who would take him away, marry him, and love him until they both passed.

Sakura laughed out loud. Talk about cliché.

"What's so funny?" the source of her thoughts was at her side, and Sakura jumped slightly, blinking owlishly.

It took her a moment to finally respond. "I was just thinking about how stupid you look in these uniforms," she grinned innocently, giggling when Naruto glared at her.

"Yeah, well, it's not like the skirt flatters your legs, so I wouldn't be talking," he grumbled.

Inwardly, Sakura smiled. This was the way it had always been with them. Jabs that neither meant thrown at each other, half-hearted glares, and many weeks sleeping curled together on her bed. They were very much like siblings. On the outside, she rolled her eyes before glaring at him. "You don't insult a girl's appearance, Naruto. It's rude," she chided lightly, standing up and poking him in the chest. Before Naruto could respond, she'd already turned and was at the door, picking up both of their backpacks. She threw Naruto's to him, and slid the straps of her own pink and black backpack on her shoulders. "Come on, stupid; we'll be late if we spend too much time talking about my sexy legs," Sakura grinned at him, then looked in the direction of her mother's room. "Mom, we're ready to leave," she called. Moments later, a woman with dark red hair walked from the room, walking at a fast pace, as women typically did.

Like Sakura, the woman's hair was not naturally dark red. The roots of her black hair were beginning to show. Naruto figured that, by tomorrow, both Sakura and her mother would have refreshed their hair color. Really, he couldn't understand women. Bringing a hand up to his own unruly hair and running it through the bright locks, he couldn't imagine ever changing it.

"Okay, I think I've got everything," she mumbled, more to herself than to the two teens watching her with little interest, one hand going through her purse, her eyes on the contents. Finally, she looked up. "Ready?" she asked with a cheery voice, her dark brown eyes looking from her daughter to Naruto. Without waiting for a response, she sauntered between them and quickly opened the door. "Whoever's last, lock the door, please," she said over her shoulder, not really looking at either of them, her voice detached, like the words were just an afterthought.

Sakura was right behind her mother, walking quickly.

With a sigh, Naruto slid one strap of his backpack on his left shoulder, flipped the lock of the door, and shut it. His blue eyes looked around at the sky. The colors really were beautiful; the way the hues mixed in a strange and yet perfect way was oddly fascinating. He noticed how everything was remarkably still; the leaves on the trees were not swaying, the clouds were so slow to move across the sky, they might as well have been completely still. The weather was very comfortable. Though, in the many years that Naruto had lived in Texas, mornings usually were quite nice. However, he, like any other Texan, was well aware of just how quickly that could turn. Scanning the sky again, he couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom; like that moment, with the sky clear and still, was the calm before the storm.

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><p>Sasuke slid his shoes on in a hurry. Aika hadn't been able to wake him until she finally decided to bark, which meant that Sasuke woke up late. Aika's walk was cut short; that meant he'd be sneaking back to the apartment to take her out again during lunch. As he stood, Sasuke winced and gripped his side, his teeth biting into his lip. He forced himself to breathe and act normally. When the sharp pain in his side dulled, Sasuke pulled up his shirt. There was a bandage wrapped over his right side, on the curve just above his hip. He couldn't see any blood soaking through, which did relieve him slightly. It at least meant that Sasuke managed to stop the bleeding. His eyes looked over the rest of his torso, checking on everything else. There were large bruises that would definitely get ugly, and a few scrapes that would heal slowly, but overall, that one wound was the worst. "At least they missed my face," he muttered, though it was a dark joke. The only reason he was happy that they'd missed his face, was so that he didn't have to come up with some stupid lie about bruises on his face.<p>

He pulled the shirt back down and carefully tucked it in, then put the blazer on. Now, if he did bleed through the bandage and his white shirt, the blazer would be able to cover it, and no one would question anything.

Running a hand through his hair, Sasuke walked to his door, forcing himself not to limp. He picked up his bag, letting the strap rest on his shoulder as he opened the door and walked out. Like a magnet, his eyes were drawn to the sky. Looking over the horizon, Sasuke noted the clear morning sky. He admired the colors for a moment before turning away from the sky and hurrying down the apartment stairs and onto the sidewalk. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket to check the time. If he took his car, he'd make it to school in time.

Sasuke hurried around the apartment building to the parking lot, his dark grey eyes searching for his car. His eyes landed on the black used Nissan, and he couldn't help the grimace that appeared on his face. Sasuke far preferred the more… expensive cars, coming from a successful background. With a sigh, the raven-haired male shook his head. It wasn't as though_ that_ mattered anymore, he reminded himself. And this was enough for Sasuke to get into the car, pull out of the parking lot, and drive the relatively short distance to the school. He quickly got out of the car, his eyes down as he arranged his belongings. The second he looked up, there was a flash of yellow before he felt the wind knocked out of him and pain in his tailbone and torso. Again. He tried not to wince, forcing himself to ignore the pain in his side. Somehow, Sasuke knew that he didn't need to look up to see who it was. Yet, the simple hope – prayer, even – that it was someone else urged his dark eyes to open and look around.

Sure enough, staring down at him with a shocked expression, was that annoying whisker-marked kid. Sasuke didn't even want to remember the kid's name.

"Naruto, for christssake, watch where you're going!" Sasuke heard the girl, but his eyes were locked on Naruto's, and Naruto's were likewise locked on his. Sasuke was glaring, Naruto was staring, shocked.

"Are you going to help me up or not?" Sasuke bit out. No, he wasn't helpless, and he could have easily stood. But it was Naruto who knocked him down – again – so, naturally, it should be Naruto who helped him back up. It was just logic.

The demand seemed to break Naruto of his shock, and he glared, his blue eyes gaining an odd fire behind them. "No, I'm not," he responded haughtily.

This infuriated Sasuke. "You're the one who knocked me down," he reminded the blond kid.

"Yes," a sly smile crept its way onto Naruto's tanned face, "but you having shitty balance isn't my fault."

"It's your fault when you're not looking where you're going."

"Ah, but were you looking where you going, Mr. Hippo?" Naruto pointed a finger at Sasuke. Sakura, though she knew she should have stepped in, giggled.

"I-" he stopped, blinked, and stared at the blond, "Hippo?" Sasuke inquired, utterly confused.

Both Naruto and Sakura busted into a fit of laughter, leaning against each other for support. Sasuke stared at the two of them, his mouth hanging partially open, as he tried to understand what was so damn funny. With a shake of his head, the raven-haired teen pushed himself off, gritting his teeth against the pain. His pale hands brushed over the back side of his uniform, taking care to avoid his side. "Okay," he sighed, "I give up. Please enlighten me," his voice oozed boredom, and somehow, Sasuke knew he was going to regret it.

"It's simple," Naruto stopped cackling enough to respond, though his breath was still light and there was still amusement in his voice. "I just called you a hypocrite. Hippo sort of sounds like the beginning of hypocrite," he shrugged. There was a clear 'duh' in his voice. Beside him, Sakura snickered more.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the pair. "Are you high?"

Both Naruto and Sakura instantly became serious. "No," it was Sakura who answered. "Like Naruto or I would even think of doing something so despicable! You wouldn't understand, Sasuke; it's just something that Naruto and I find funny," she shrugged, seeming quite offended by Sasuke's question. Or perhaps she was just offended by Sasuke's presence.

He was fairly sure it was the latter, but he wasn't sure where the animosity toward him had come from. The week before, she was all over him, though not quite as badly as Ino. It was certainly a perplexing thought.

"Come on, Naruto, we have to go to class," Sakura took Naruto's hand, but Naruto wouldn't budge.

"Slow down, Sakura," he chuckled. "Let's walk Sasuke to class, too; that way he's not so lonely," Naruto suggested. He turned to grin in Sasuke's direction. "Are you coming? You don't seem to be the type who likes to be late."

Sasuke was suspicious. He wasn't used to kindness, especially from people who were beginning to build a history of constantly fighting with him. However, the blond haired kid seemed sincere, and his smile was so blindingly stupid that it was definitely causing brain damage. Being around Naruto was definitely causing brain damage, because Sasuke could feel the muscles of his mouth twitch. They seemed to have forgotten how to fully bring the corners of his mouth upwards, though. Sasuke licked his lips, a nervous gesture that he'd never really been able to get rid of. In his silent, suspicious stare, Naruto's smile had slowly deflated, and he was standing there, staring at Sasuke with a confused expression. Sasuke licked his lips again. "Why would I want to walk into that school building with you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. _That's not what I wanted to say._

Naruto blinked several times. His face burned a light red, and soon, he was fixing Sasuke with that strange, fiery blue glare. "Fine! Fuck you, too, asshole," he growled and turned sharply, pulling Sakura along behind him before she had a chance to retaliate to Sasuke's words.

Tense, Sasuke watched the duo leave. His mouth felt dry, and his brain suddenly hurt. When _had_ he become such an asshole? He'd meant to follow Naruto, to say that he wouldn't mind walking with the blond to class. But instead, he'd said something horrible. Sasuke straightened and smoothed out the front of his shirt. "Well, it's all for the best," he told himself, shrugging. Naruto had seemed to have taken a fancy to Sasuke, and Sasuke knew it would only end up messy in the end. Fixing his bag over his shoulder, Sasuke began his walk to class.

A low grumble of thunder off in the distance sent chills down his spine. He hurried into the building, with one final look out at the slowly darkening blue sky.

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><p>"Fuck him," Naruto snarled, his hands balling, his nails beginning to dig into Sakura's hands. She winced, but he didn't seem to notice as he continued dragging her down the hall. "Who the fuck does he think he is? Who <em>wouldn't<em> want to walk into school with me?" a silent _everyone_ rang in Naruto's mind as he remembered that there were very few people he actually talked to, and even less who willingly talked to him.

"Naruto," Sakura whimpered behind him.

"What!" Naruto rounded on her, his blue eyes wide with anger. Sakura shrank back, her own green eyes showing a mixture of confusion and fear.

Sakura had only ever seen Minato truly angry once in her life. It was frightening, even for the bold, surprisingly strong Sakura. The scene had caused nightmares , had completely wrecked her mind for several days after. She didn't go around the Namikaze home for months, it shook her so bad.

Naruto's face, at that moment, looked exactly like Minato's.

It took less than three seconds for Naruto to realize that he'd snapped, and he calmed down quickly, releasing Sakura's hand and looking away from her. There was an awkward silence between the two of them that lasted for what felt like hours. Just as Naruto turned to look at Sakura, opening his mouth to speak, the sound of the bell ringing told both of them that they were late. Sakura hissed a curse and was walking quickly in the direction of class, leaving Naruto behind.

"I'll see you later, Naru," she spoke over her shoulder, though her eyes didn't meet his. Naruto merely nodded silently, watching as his childhood friend power-walked toward class. Guilt ate away at him, quickly leading to hate.

He felt anger licking at him again, rising up over him. He tried to squash it, tried to tell himself that he was overreacting, that there wasn't anything to be angry about, that all he was doing was turning himself into his father. But all of these truths only added fuel to the fire. Naruto turned, fist raised, to punch the lockers to his right. However, instead of lockers being there, he only saw Sasuke. The shock of the other male's presence was enough to defuse everything, and Naruto took a step back. His mouth hung open, and his closed fist hung lamely in the air.

Sasuke was watching him with an unreadable expression. His dark eyes looked from Naruto's face, to his fist, and then back to his face. The older male cocked his head, something that struck Naruto as oddly puppy like for such an emotionless person. When Sasuke spoke, his voice was slightly higher pitched with an implied question, "You know," he began, "I may not know much about you, but from what I do know, rage doesn't seem to be your style," his eyes looked pointedly at Naruto's fist again, causing the blond teen to quickly bring it back down to his side.

Naruto was silent for a while, looking at everything but Sasuke. He took a breath and forced his eyes to turn to Sasuke, "No," there was hesitance in his voice, "it's not my style."

"I imagine it came from somewhere or something you'd rather I didn't know about?" there was no judgment in the raven haired man's voice, only light curiosity.

"Yes. I'd rather you didn't know about it," Naruto nodded once. There was a look of hesitation and worry on his face.

Sasuke only shrugged, "Good. I don't like hearing about everyone's secrets."

Naruto visibly relaxed. He cocked his head and smirked, "Look at you, Mr. Perfect. You're late for class."

"I'm not perfect," Sasuke said seriously, "and I've been late before. It isn't a big deal."

There was a silence between them before Naruto spoke again, "Is skipping school a big deal?" he asked quietly.

"Why?" Sasuke eyed him suspiciously.

The blond bit his lip, before taking another breath and speaking in a rush, "Because I really don't want to be in school right now, but I don't want to be alone either, and I can't go to my house, and I can't go get Sakura, and-"

"Hush," Sasuke held up his hand, his eyes narrowed in a half-hearted glare. "Am I really the only choice you have besides Sakura?" Naruto nodded slowly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed, "I didn't really feel like today was a school day, either, so I guess I can accompany you on your skip day," he mumbled.

Naruto's face broke out in a grin. "Great! Thank you so much, Sasuke; I really owe you big time!"

Much to Sasuke's chagrin, the blond took his hand and ran down the hallway. "I can walk by myself," he growled, but the words fell on deaf ears. Sasuke pressed his free hand to his side, hoping the blond didn't notice how tightly Sasuke was gripping his hand, or the way the older teen was gritting his teeth hard he was sure they were going to break.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>_Wow. This story is startin' to get pretty deep, yeah? Where did those bruises come from, Sasuke? Will he be able to hide it from Naruto? And where will these two go? Oh yeah, and, I know that I promised an update on the weekend, but that would have taken even longer. And I like where I stopped it here. The next chapter will be longer and more fun stuff will happen. This time I really do promise! (:  
><em>

_If you're nice and review, I might even give you a little bitty sneak peak! O:_


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